Going to the doctor is not my favorite activity. I often leave feeling disappointed, judged and not heard and today was no different.
The more I've gotten into "natural" and "alternative" methods to prevent and treat certain health issues, the more my doctor and I have agreed to disagree.
For instance, in a previous appointment, I brought up the topic of Candida and her exact words to me were:
"We Western doctors don't believe in Candida. Alternative doctors do, but we think that's a bunch of hocus pocus."
Those were her EXACT words!
Needless to say, I left in tears.
Today, we were talking about a rash on my hands which I believed to be eczema. Last year, I had a similar rash under my arms and while I'm still not sure of the exact cause, that rash disappears (and stays that way) when I consistently eat a super clean diet free of gluten, dairy, soy, corn, processed foods, and sugar (talk about motivation!)
Not wanting to have eczema for the rest of my life or rely on creams to make my hands look "normal", I asked my doctor if there's anything I could do to prevent this from happening in the future, just to see what she'd say.
She said there was nothing I could do!
And then she said (verbatim):
"I mean, some people say that eating dairy could make it worse, but I don't believe in that."
My eyes widened, but I kept my mouth shut. (If you want to see my face breakout, hand over the cheese because it WILL happen!)
When we talked about what I can do to relieve my discomfort, she mentioned keeping my hands moisturized and proceeded to give me the names of some drugstore brands of moisturizers. I told her that to reduce toxins on my skin, I use coconut oil as moisturizer for my face and body and she looked at me like I had three heads.
Sigh.
Once again, I left feeling frustrated and disappointed.
Now don't get me wrong-- I'm NOT against Western medicine AT ALL.
I just wish that more doctors would at least be open to other possibilities (e.g. diet & lifestyle factors) and consider exploring the root cause of an issue instead of not listening to their patients and just handing out prescriptions for the symptoms.
On a side note, if anyone reading this is suffering from rashes and skin issues, consider doing the following:
- Do an elimination diet. Eliminate gluten, dairy, soy, corn, yeast, and sugar for a couple weeks to see if you notice any improvement in your skin. If the thought of removing all of those foods from your diet feels overwhelming, give our pre-made meals a try for two weeks to make the process a LOT easier.
- Reduce your stress. One helpful thing my doctor did say was that stress could make the eczema worse, so get that under control. Yoga, meditation, massage, and deep breathing are some relaxation techniques to try.
- Get tested for leaky gut. This condition is a common (yet oftentimes undiagnosed) cause of rashes and skin issues. In fact, it's so common, that we've already gotten a lot of people asking us about our Gut Healing Kit that's coming out next month!
So what now? I'm going to try some of her suggestions, use a prescription topical cream (since part of my hand appears to be infected), and continue to do my best making lifestyle choices that will help my body heal. I'll reassess after a few weeks, but for now, that's the plan. Oh, and finding a new doctor :).
If you have any suggestions, feel free to send them my way!
Image credit: via
Connect with and learn more about Emily Chan-Norris below:
